Just one month ago, we introduced Office 365 to the world, and the response has been awesome. We continue to see great press and analyst coverage, fantastic partner support, and amazing customer interest. 5,000 people ‘like’ Office 365 on Facebook, more than 4,000 follow Office 365 on Twitter, thousands more read this blog every day, and more than 60,000 organizations have signed up for the beta – roughly 2,000 per day.

With all the buzz, we’ve seen lots of questions about the beta process and when will ‘my’ account be activated. So we wanted to take the chance to answer some of the top questions help folks understand what to expect.

1) When does the beta start?

It has already started. We are adding more organizations to the beta gradually over several weeks, so we’re always adding new testers every day.

2) Why is the beta limited?

There are lots of reasons, but two are really important: First, we want everyone testing Office 365 to have a great experience, and second, we need to be able to test things like scalability and performance in a controlled environment. Limiting the beta ensures we can do both.

3) Will there be a “public” beta?

We expect to be able to add more folks to the beta, but we don’t know when or how many just yet because we just started testing.

A public beta is something we always do for software products, but it’s not always necessary for cloud services. With software, a public beta helps us test the near-infinite number of environments customers have, but with a cloud service, we have only one environment – our data centers. So, with cloud services, we will often gate beta access, as we did with betas for BPOS, Azure and Intune.

4) How many people get into the beta?

We’re limiting the beta to just a few thousand organizations initially. Each organization will be able to roll out 25 accounts.

5) If I’m registered for the beta, how do I know if I got in?

You’ll get an e-mail from us with your account credentials.

6) How are you determining who gets into the beta?

To start, you have to meet the requirements for the beta, like being in one of the thirteen countries and regions where it’s available. Basic stuff like that. After that, it is basically first-come, first served, but there are a couple of exceptions. First, some early beta slots were allocated to existing customers who have been helping us design our cloud services. We figure that’s the least we could do. Second, we require a geographically diverse set of testers. So, for example, if all the first applicants were in Hong Kong, we would eventually have to skip until we found the first applicants in Spain, Singapore and Germany.

7) Is the beta feature complete?

Not entirely. While it is mostly feature complete, we are still adding new capabilities, as is the case with most betas. Before we launch Office 365, we will add some additional capabilities, such as Lync Online capabilities from the newly released server, for example.

8 ) What happens if I have not gotten into the beta yet?

You’ll get a monthly e-mail from us with the latest status on the service until you get in or we launch. We won’t forget about you, and you’ll be among the very first to learn when the service launches.

9) What should I do in the meantime? I really want to try out your service!

You can test BPOS with a free, 30-day trial right now (trust us, no wait list). BPOS combines Exchange Online and SharePoint Online with Office Live Meeting and Office Communications Online (soon to be Lync Online). You’ll be in pretty elite company – Volvo, DuPont, Godiva, GAP, GlaxoSmithKline, Energizer, Starbucks, Tyco, Rexel and thousands of others have chosen BPOS for their business today. And if you subscribe to BPOS, you can move to Office 365 when it launches next year. (For more details on that transition, check out our BPOS transition center.)

10) So, if I haven’t signed up for the beta already, should I even bother?

Yes. Bother! Signing up for the beta holds your place in line, so the fastest way to get into the beta is to sign up now.

Microsoft Office 365 delivers the power of cloud productivity to businesses of all sizes, helping to save time, money and free up valued resources. Office 365 combines the familiar Office desktop suite with online versions of Microsoft’s next generation communications and collaboration services: Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and Lync Online. With Office 365 we provide services that are easy to administer and simple to use – always backed up by robust security, reliability and control to run your business.

Q. When will Office 365 be available to customers?

Office 365 will be available for purchase in 2011. Please note that existing customers must be transitioned to Office 365 before it is available to them. Transition to Office 365 will be available to existing BPOS customers soon after availability of Office 365. Microsoft will work with all existing BPOS customers to determine the best time for the customer’s business to make the transition.

Office 365 is the introduction of new online services and capabilities, new user experiences, and new online platform capabilities related to the introduction of new underlying “2010” server software into Microsoft Online Services datacenters as well as other major new service and platform investments. The name may be new and includes new offerings, but you are subscribed to the same service – just significantly enhanced. It will just give you a lot more features and functionality once you make the transition.

Q. I am not on BPOS now. Should I wait for Office 365?

The benefits of Microsoft Online Services are realized as soon as services are deployed, whether on BPOS or Office 365. Customers who do decide to purchase BPOS now should deploy BPOS with the new system requirements to make the transition experience as smooth as possible.

Q. Can I choose when I go to Office 365?

Yes. One of the key values of online services is that customers have access to the latest and greatest service capabilities and features without having to maintain or upgrade server infrastructure. However, Microsoft understands that customers also need the flexibility to choose when they adopt significant changes to an online service. For any major service update customers will have up to twelve (12) months from the availability of the service update to make the transition. Starting early next year, Microsoft will reach out to all customers to schedule the customer transition to Office 365.

Q. When I make the transition to Office 365, what do I have to do and what will Microsoft do?

Microsoft is responsible for any changes that happen in its datacenters. Customers will not have to migrate any data. Customers will be responsible for making sure that their client software is compliant with the system requirements discussed above. Customers will also be responsible for end-user training and configuring any new features and capabilities that will be delivered by Office 365.

· Internet Explorer 6 with the Microsoft Online Administration Center, My Company Portal or Outlook Web App will no longer be supported

Q. Why have system requirements changed?

Office 365 will be built on the latest server software and a re-architected identity infrastructure to support all the new features and capabilities that will be delivered. Some older versions of end-user software are simply unable to connect or interact with Office 365 in a way that would provide a good user experience.

Q: Office Communicator 2007 R2 is my standard currently. How do I continue to use Communicator with Office 365?

With Office 365 the new Lync 2010 client will be required.

Q. Can I upgrade my clients now?

Yes. Microsoft recommends that existing BPOS customers consider upgrading to the new platform clients requirements as soon as it is practicable to make the transition experience as smooth as possible.

Q. Does BPOS service support Office 2010 now?

Yes. BPOS supports Office 2010 now.

Q. Why is Office 2003 not supported?

Outlook 2003 was designed and built for an environment where servers are maintained locally within an organization and not part of a cloud service. Outlook 2003 does not support features and functionality that depend on the re-architected identity infrastructure and newer server architecture available in Office 365. Given these changes, Outlook 2003 cannot provide an acceptable end-user experience when connected to Office 365.

In contrast, Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010 have been designed to work with cloud services and support the cloud services’ architecture.

Q. Why is Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) not supported?

Office 365 is built on the latest server software and a re-architected identity infrastructure to support all the new features and capabilities that will be delivered. IE6 is incapable of rendering some upcoming elements of the Office 365 platform.

Q. Will Office 365 support Office Web Apps?

Yes. Office Web Apps will be a capability of SharePoint Online. However, not all Office 365 offerings will include Office Web Apps.

Q. Will I be able to subscribe to Office?

Yes. A subscription pricing model for Office will be available called Microsoft Office Professional Plus desktop suite.

Q. Will Office 365 still require the Sign In application?

No. Office 365 will not require the Sign In application. Microsoft will offer a service connector application that will automate configuration of end-user computers for Office 365, but the service connector will not be required after initial configuration.

Q. Will Office 365 require ANY special software on end-user computers?

Microsoft will provide free of charge a Services Connector that will automate configuration of end-user computers and download and install any required patches and updates to end-user software such as Microsoft Office, Windows and Internet Explorer.

Q. Can I decide not to transition to Office 365 after twelve (12) months from the availability of the service update?

No. Customers must make the transition to Office 365 within twelve (12) months of availability to the customer.

Q. Once I know when I want to go to Office 365, how will the process work?

Starting now, Microsoft will proactively communicate with customers to determine when customers want to transition to Office 365. Microsoft will give customers generous advance notice of the availability of Office 365 and will communicate with customers clearly what the transition process will look like. Starting next year, Microsoft will reach out to every customer and work with the customer to select the customer’s desired transition date.

Q. Can I choose to transition to Office 365 in phases? Or will I be transitioned all at once?

Customers can transition in two phases: the pilot phase and the full transition. A pilot phase will be offered where customers can move some user mailboxes to Office 365 as well as view a read-only copy of their SharePoint site collections with Office 365 enabled. Once the customer is satisfied with the pilot experience they will complete the full transition at their scheduled transition date.

Q. What can I do to get ready for Office 365?

Customers should take the following steps to start preparing for Office 365:

· For each subscription that a customer has, make sure that contact details for both the “Account Owner” and “Service Administrator” are up-to-date.

o “Account Owner” and “Service Administrator” can be checked at the Microsoft Online Customer Portal (https://mocp.microsoftonline.com) by clicking the “Subscriptions” tab and “View Subscription Details” in the “Actions” column

o Make sure that the email accounts specified for “Account Owner” and “Service Administrator” are monitored regularly.

o Make sure that the domain “@email.microsoftonline.com” is marked as safe, to prevent the possibility of communications from Microsoft Online Services being blocked or filtered.

· Assess your current client environment and determine if you need to upgrade any client software.

· Understand the two different identity scenarios that Office 365 will offer: federated identity using ADFS (single sign-on for end users) or a managed identity scenario (end users have separate credentials for BPOS)

Q. As an existing customer, what are my options for trying Office 365.

After general availability, existing customers have two options for trying Office 365:

· Trial: existing customers can subscribe to a trial account of Office 365. However, please note that customers will not be able to merge a trial account on Office 365 with their existing BPOS account.

· Pilot: A pilot phase will be offered where customers can move some user mailboxes to Office 365 as well as view a read-only copy of their SharePoint site collections with Office 365 enabled. Data in the pilot can be preserved after the customer transitions to Office 365.

No. Office 365 will not change anything related to your subscription pricing, contracts, agreements or account status with one exception – the SharePoint Online Deskless Worker offering will be phased out. Microsoft will contact all customers who are subscribed to the SharePoint Online Deskless Worker offering with more information.

While you will have the opportunity to explore different and new offerings after your transition to Office 365, your pricing will not change unless you decide to switch to a different offering after your transition.

Q. What will happen to my SharePoint Online Deskless Worker USLs?

Microsoft will contact all customers who are subscribed to the SharePoint Online Deskless Worker offering with more information.

Q. Can I buy services or seats on the next service update when it becomes available, even if I have not transitioned my existing service?

You will be unable to purchase services or seats with your existing domain and purchasing identity on Office 365 until you transition your existing service. You can create a new account in the customer portal and purchase services using a different domain name. But you will be unable to “merge” any subscriptions purchased on Office 365 before your transition with your existing subscriptions.

Q. After Office 365 is generally available, can I still buy seats or new subscriptions on the current service before I transition?

Yes. Customers who have not transitioned can continue to buy seats and new subscriptions after general availability of Office 365. However, note that none of the features of Office 365 will be available to existing customers until you transition to Office 365.

Getting to Microsoft® Office 365: How Existing BPOS Customers Make the Transition

19 Oct 2010 10:06 AM

Written by Kayvaan Ghassemieh

Hi, my name is Kayvaan, I’m a senior product manager with Microsoft Online Services. As Betsy mentioned in her earlier post, today Microsoft announced Office 365, the next generation of the Business Productivity Online Suite. Betsy talked about all the great new business-class features, efficiency and value that Office 365 will bring to existing and new Microsoft Online Services customers. You may now be asking yourself, “What does Office 365 mean for me as an existing BPOS customer?”

For any Software as a Service (SaaS) provider, it is critical to release updates and deliver changes to services in a way that balances continuous improvement with the flexibility to allow customers to control when releases and changes are delivered. Microsoft Online Services provides this balance by offering all existing BPOS customers up to twelve (12) months to transition from BPOS to Office 365. With that flexibility, you can make the transition to Office 365 when it makes sense for your business.

Your next steps as an existing customer should be to start learning about Office 365 and how to start planning. You can take the following steps right now:

· Bookmark the Office 365 transition center, which will be your one stop shop for ongoing guidance and discussion about the transition. At the transition center today you will find: a checklist to help you start planning, an extensive FAQ and details about Office 365 system requirements. We will publish more detailed guidance to the transition center on a continuous basis.

· If you have questions that you want to ask of other customers or Microsoft subject matter experts, head over to the transition forum on TechNet. I will be joining the conversation there.

· Make sure we have the right technical contacts on file. Microsoft Online Services will be sending important email communications about the transition to your technical contact email. Learn how to check and update.

· Stay tuned! Check the transition center regularly, subscribe to this blog and keep an eye out for notifications in the Microsoft Online Administration Center.

This is an exciting time for Microsoft Online Services and customers. Office 365 is a major wave of innovations to our services and we are committed to making sure that you have the information you need – when you need it – to make the transition to Office 365 when it works for you.

Microsoft Office 365 for enterprises brings together cloud versions of our trusted communications and collaboration software with our familiar Office Professional Plus desktop suite. It is designed to help meet your IT needs for robust security, reliability, and user productivity.

Plans for businesses

We have a variety of plans to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes and varying IT needs. Priced from $2 – $27 per month per user, each plan has the same 99.9% uptime guarantee and includes the security and support you expect from Microsoft. Office 365 offers great flexibility by allowing businesses to provide users access to only the services they need and pay-as-you-go pricing options.

Integrated IM and presence, as well as online meetings with audio and video conferencing and multiparty data sharing

Team sites to share documents, task lists, and schedules to keep workgroups in sync

Plans for kiosk workers

Many larger businesses have users who do not have a dedicated computer – sometimes called kiosk workers. Getting kiosk workers access to email and documents to stay connected to the broader organization is still important. Office 365 has several subscription plans that offer value and flexibility for companies with kiosk workers, starting at just $4 per month per user. Kiosk plans can be combined with our Office 365 for enterprises plans for greater IT control and efficiency.